Princess Diana once famously stated in an interview, that she wished to be “a Queen of people’s hearts”. After her tragic death at the age of just 36, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in a statement said: “They liked her, they loved her, they regarded her as one of the people. She was the ‘People’s Princess'”. And that’s how she will stay, how she will remain, in our hearts and in our memories, forever.”
Here, we take a look back at the life and tireless charity work, that has made her loved by millions all over the world.
Early Years
On the 1st of July 1961, Diana Frances Spencer was born at Park House on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. She was the fourth of five children of John and Frances Spencer, the Viscount and Viscountess Althorp.
Her family were closely connected with the Royal Family as her father was a personal aide to both King George VI and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandmothers had served as ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Diana was home tutored until she was nine years old and then went to boarding school. Firstly, Riddlesworth Hall and then later, West Heath Public School in Kent. She did not excel academically but she did excel at sports, especially in swimming, diving and hockey. She also had a passion for ballet, but was too tall to take it up professionally.
She left school at 16, having failed her ‘O’ Levels and attended a finishing school in Switzerland, but left after one term. Diana then travelled to London where she worked first as a nanny and then as an assistant at a primary school.
Becoming a Princess
She had known Prince Charles for a number of years before they dated. Their relationship developed as they spent weekends together and in February 1981 the Prince proposed and Diana accepted. Their wedding, on 29th July 1981, was dubbed “the wedding of the century” and was watched by an estimated 750 million people around the world. The couple went on to have two sons, William and Harry.
Breaking Down Barriers
However, what Princess Diana is likely most famous for was her work for humanitarian causes. She was an ardent fundraiser and at one point in her life was connected to over 100 charities. She remained a patron of six charities until her death on 31st August 1997.
In the mid-1980’s the world was in the grip of the Aids epidemic. Diana officially opened the first purpose-built HIV unit in April of 1987, and in an attempt to break through the ignorance and misinformation that HIV could not be transmitted through touch, she was pictured shaking hands with an Aids patient without wearing gloves.
She was quoted as saying: “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it.”
Similarly in 1989, on her first trip to Indonesia, she was filmed shaking hands with, and touching the bandaged wounds of leprosy patients. She also visited hospitals and missions in Zimbabwe, Nepal and India.
In 1992, Princess Diana became patron of the charity Centrepoint, which helps young people find food, shelter and a job. Her son Prince William has since become patron in 2005 carrying on his mother’s good work.
Diana was a campaigner against landmines and this is perhaps the cause that she is linked with the most. She was famously pictured, shortly before her death, in Angola, walking through a minefield that was in the process of being cleared whilst wearing a visor and protective body armour.
James Cowan, who is CEO of the Halo Trust, a mine-removal charity, says the success of the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty was due to Diana. After her death, it was signed by 122 countries and it prohibits the use, stockpiling, transfer and production of landmines.
Her Legacy
In a true testament to just how much she was held in people’s affections, shortly after her death, an estimated £34 million flooded into the Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial fund, which was set up to fund her favourite charities. A further £36 million was raised by the release of the charity single recorded by Elton John, “Candle in the Wind 1997”. She will live on as ‘The People’s Princess’ in the hearts and minds of the millions of people whose lives she touched.
To commemorate what would have been Princess Diana’s 60th Birthday, we’d like to introduce The 2021 Diana 60th Birthday Gold Sovereign Range. A world’s first, as Diana has never before appeared on gold sovereigns. You can view the range HERE.
